Flexible display enabling technology

In a collaboration between Pennsylvania State University and Princeton University, we have been laying the foundations for flexible display technology. Flexible substrates including plastic or steel foil, backplanes of organic or silicon transistors, and directly printed RGB organic light emitting diodes are issues central to this collaboration. We present an overview of key recent results. Silicon based thin film transistors have been processed at the ultralow temperatures required for processing on plastic substrates. Organic thin film transistors and circuits with record mobilities have been fabricated that are naturally matched to low temperature substrates. Organic light emitting diodes have been made by inkjet printing in an approach that solves the RGB patterning problem of OLED displays. The mechanics of flexible substrates have been defined and thin film silicon transistor performance is shown to be unaffected by bending. Substantial progress has been made toward the realization of rugged, lightweight, flexible and even conformal displays.